In a conventional production facility, such as a production system or machine, programs for work instructions are generated in consideration of the construction and function of the production facility, attachment devices attached to the equipment, and the functions and capability of the attachment devices. The work instructions are generated for each system or machine in consideration of, for example, the provision of a measurement device (measuring function) for the machine or system and the degree of adaptation of the measurement device (measuring function) to automatic measurement.
Further, user interfaces of the controller lack versatility, so that an operator must be trained to learn an operating method and become familiar with the operating method. Thus, the operator must adapt himself to the controller.
There are a plurality of machines that are applicable to the same purpose although they have different constructions or are provided with different attachment devices. Even in the case where all these machines are used for the same service, the machines cannot necessarily be activated and operated in accordance with the same work instructions, and thus the work instructions must be created for each of these machines. Accordingly, the formation of work plans takes much time.
If a work having so far been performed by means of a certain machine is to be executed by means of another machine having a different construction and attachment devices, it is impossible to drive and cause the second machine to execute the same operation in accordance with the same work instruction program. Moreover, since the contents of the operation to be done by the operator vary with the machine, the degrees of freedom of relocation of the machine and formation and modification of work plans are limited depending on the operator's ability, thereby giving rise to a problem that the plant cannot be operated flexibly as the whole.
Even in the case where there are provided a plurality of machines that have equivalent specifications and system configurations and can be operated by common work instructions, change or improvement of the specifications of any one machine can disable the rest of the machines from being operated by common operation commands. In order to maintain the commonness, therefore, the respective specifications of all the machines must be changed or improved with the same contents and at the same timing. This entails a useless investment and results in inflexible system employment.
Since the user interfaces of the controller lack versatility, moreover, the operator must master the operation of the controller by practice. Even if the operator gets skilled to be able to operate the controller directly with ease without undergoing any troublesome operation, however, the operator must carry out the operation on the basis of the user interfaces which is not versatile.